Pa. residents dig out after rare October snow

Sunday

Oct 30, 2011 at 2:30 PMOct 30, 2011 at 2:31 PM

RON TODT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Utility crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents cut off due to the storm, but officials say getting power back on for everyone will likely take a few days at least.

The rare October snowstorm dropped more than a foot of snow in some areas and sent trees crashing to earth, many bringing power lines with them. One snow-laden tree fell onto a southeastern Pennsylvania home, killing an elderly resident napping in a recliner.

PPL reported 183,000 customers without power in eastern and central Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon. FirstEnergy said about 140,000 Met-Ed customers had no power. PECO earlier reported about 70,000 outages.

Officials said shelters and warming stations had been opened in some of the affected areas due to the widespread power outages.

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